Girls Aloud have confessed even their family and friends did not know about their reunion plans – and they have been avoiding people for the past week.
Cheryl Tweedy, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh – are planning to hit the road in May and June 2024 in recognition of this month marking 21 years since they and the late Sarah Harding won Popstars: The Rivals.
During their appearance on Zoe Ball’s Radio Two show on Thursday morning, the foursome discussed their reunion and confessed the loyalty of their fans is what drew them back to the stage 22 years after forming.
When asked by Zoe how long they have been keeping the news a secret, Nicola said: ‘Months and months, we didnt tell our family and friends, our families didn’t know.’
Nadine then confessed: ‘When we put out the teaser, we’ve been ignoring people all week’, while birthday girl Kimberley admitted: ”We’ve been ignoring people on the school run’, while the rest of the girls giggled.
The girls admitted listening to a montage of their music made them ’emotional’ and ‘excited’.
Since confirming the news, the group revealed they have not recorded new music but just want to celebrate their back catalogue.
Cheryl revealed they had been discussing the plans for some time but put the idea on ice when Sarah – who died in September 2021 – was diagnosed with cancer.
She said in a statement: ‘We all started talking about the possibility of doing something to celebrate Girls Aloud’s 20-year anniversary a few years ago. The anniversary seemed like an obvious thing that we would celebrate.
‘But when Sarah fell ill all priorities changed. She passed away a year before the anniversary and it just didn’t feel right, it felt too soon.’
The group plan to use the tour to “celebrate” their late friend.
Cheryl added: ‘But now, I think there is an energy that does makes it feel right. It’s the right time to celebrate Sarah, it’s the right time to celebrate the band and the right time to celebrate the fact we can still do this 21 years later. That’s a big honour in lots of ways.’
Kimberley said: ‘Over the last year, we’ve felt this outpouring of love – obviously towards Sarah, but actually towards all of us as a group.
‘And I guess it’s ignited something in all of us again. It feels like something has changed and it does feel like the right time to celebrate Sarah and the 20-year anniversary that we didn’t celebrate at the time.’
The group hope fans will enjoy the tour just as much as them.
Nadine said: ‘Girls Aloud are a band that made such a huge impact on people’s lives. We grew up with the band, but so did so many other people.
‘So for us not to do something again feels like such a shame and a waste. We want to have that moment with fans where we can all enjoy it together.’
